Sickness
by HarmoniousPie
Summary: The NCIS team is used to physical dnager. So when Tim is sick they really around tehir favorite computer geek and realize just how much he means to each of them. Written for NFA Tim in Peril challenge. McAbby, Fatherly McGibbs, Brotherly McNozzo
1. Chapter 1: Diagnosis McGee

_Chapter 1: Diagnosis McGee_

"Keep up McGee! Go faster!" Gibbs shouted at the youngest member of his team.

There had been no cases for the past few days and so Gibbs had brought the MCRT down to the gym to practice incapacitating a suspect without seriously harming them...or in Ziva's case killing them. But, Gibbs had noticed that McGee had been slower for the past month.

"Hit the showers David, DiNozzo! You stay here, McGee." Gibbs said pulling out of his crouch.

Tony gave McGee the "ooh, you're in trouble with the Boss!" face as he passed by McGee.

"What's wrong?" Gibbs asked the second the door shut behind Tony.

"I don't know, Boss. I'm just been really tired and achy lately. It's probably just something left over from that respiratory infection I had." Tim said stretching his arm at an odd angle trying to relieve the aching in his arm and elbow.

"Go and see Ducky after you shower." Gibbs said

It took Tim a while to shower but he did eventually get redressed in his normal work clothes. While they were in the locker room at the same time Tony noticed bruising on Tim's back. Just as he was about to tease McGee for letting Ziva beat him up he felt a familiar pain on the back of his head. Tony wisely decided to shut his mouth before Gibbs decided to smack him...again.

Ducky turned around as the doors to Autopsy hissed open.

"Hello Timothy. I was just about to make a pot of tea, could I interest you in a cup?"

"Sure, Ducky." Tim said sitting down on the table.

Ducky finished warming the water and poured it into the cups before speaking.

"What brings you down here, Timothy? I thought Gibbs had you all working out right now?" Ducky asked holding up the sugar and milk.

"He told me to come down and see you. I haven't been feeling well since that respiratory infection I had earlier this month. I'm also really achy all over." Tim said before taking a sip of his tea.

Tim and Ducky spoke a bit more about how Tim felt while they drank their tea.

"Would you mind if I did a quick physical examination?" Ducky asked when Tim had rained the last dregs of his tea.

"Of course not Ducky."

Ducky went through a normal examination. When he had his rarely used stethoscope on Tim's back he noticed the bruising on Tim's back. This gave Ducky a suspicion about what could be wrong with Tim but he didn't want to say anything in case he was wrong.

"I think you need to go and see a doctor, Timothy." Ducky said after he was done, "You should head to Bethesda immediately. I'll inform Gibbs where you've gone."

After leaving the Navy Yard it only took Tim 20 minutes to get to Bethesda Medical Hospital. He waited in the emergency room for a while before he was called in. After explaining to his doctor what was wrong and having another examination and blood being taken, Tim was left in an examination room. An hour later the doctor came back in to do more tests on him. When the doctor returned there was another doctor with him.

"Hello, Agent McGee. My name is Dr. Alyssa Martini." she said.

"Call me Tim, please, Dr. Martini." he said.

"Alright, Tim. I'm here to take a sample of your bone marrow. We believe we know what you have but taking a sample of marrow will allow us to be as sure as we can. Once we're 100% positive I'll inform you about our diagnosis." she said.

Five hours later Dr. Martini returned to Tim's room with his diagnosis.

"I'm sorry Tim, but it's as we thought. You have Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia." Dr. Martini said. "We did catch it fairly early so there's a good chance that a few rounds of chemotherapy will put you into remission. I'll be your oncologist. That's why they brought me onto the case when blood tests showed the possibility of leukemia."

Tim nodded at this information and Dr. Martini left the room. He knew what had to be done now--he had to tell everyone about his diagnosis.

The following day Tim left Bethesda and headed to his apartment to change. He called his parents and asked if they could come down for dinner soon and was glad to know that they would be coming down on the train the following day. He then called his sister Sarah and told her to keep tomorrow night open to go to dinner with him and their parents. After changing and having made all of his phone calls Tim headed to the Navy Yard to tell everyone what was wrong. He knew that everyone would be worried about him and try something to make him feel better. The moment he stepped into the bull pen Tim knew that Gibbs knew something was wrong.

"What did Ducky say yesterday?" Gibbs asked.

"He told me to go to Bethesda. And I did. But I want to tell everyone together what's going on." Tim said knowing that having to explain it once to his NCIS family would be easiest.

He sat at his desk and waited while Gibbs called Abby up from forensics and Ducky and Palmer up from Autopsy and even Vance down from his office. Tony and Ziva returned from where ever it was they had been. Tim suspected they had been having another conference in the men's room. They both gave him worried looks when they saw everyone (including the Director of NCIS) crowded in front of his desk.

"As everyone knows," Tim began, "I haven't been feeling well for the past month. Yesterday, Boss told me to go and see Ducky to find out what was wrong. After doing a physical examination on me, Ducky told me I should go to Bethesda. They took some blood and then checked me in for more tests. When the results came back my doctor gave me the news. I have cancer, leukemia to be precise."

He looked at his co-workers. Ducky and Palmer both looked nervous, while Vance looked contemplative. Tim turned to Tony and Ziva who both had the same expression of shock on their faces. Tim knew without looking that Abby was crying, she always got emotional when someone on the team got hurt--even Palmer. The most surprising face was Gibbs he had his normal stoic face on but Tim could swear that there was a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Will you be okay?" Ziva asked.

"My oncologist Dr. Martini thinks there's a good chance that I'll go into remission with just chemotherapy since it was caught fairly early. I'll be starting the chemo next week." he replied.

"Once you are done here Special Agent McGee please come up to my office." Vance said before leaving the core group of NCIS around McGee's desk.

"Does your family know yet, Timothy?" Ducky asked.

"My parents are coming down tomorrow on the train. I'll tell them and Sarah tomorrow night over dinner."

"I'm coming with you." Abby said, "You'll need someone there with you who's already heard the news."

"We will all go." Ziva interjected. "After all, someone will need to be with Tim, especially once he starts the chemotherapy. Isn't that correct, Ducky?"

"Yes, m'dear. Perhaps you should all take turns with Timothy during his chemo to keep him company and watch over him afterwards."

"As long as McPuke Bucket doesn't hurl on me." Tony said trying to make Tim smile.

Tim looked at his teammates in shock. He knew they would want to do something. He had thought it would be send fruit baskets and keeping him up to date on Navy Yard happenings, not truly helping him during this time. The thought of having his NCIS family around him while he was sick made him smile.

"We take care of our own, McGee. Don't look so shocked." Gibbs suddenly said. "We'll all take care of you McGee."

McGee nodded and after a few more minutes of talking and lots of gentle hugs from Abby he headed upstairs to Vance's office. He waited for Cynthia to tell Vance he was there before going in.

"Well, Agent McGee, it seems you won't be working for a while." Vance said in his usual way of stating the obvious.

"I was hoping to be put on medical leave, sir. I'd like to continue working at NCIS and specifically the Major Case Response Team. Once, I'm healthy of course." Tim said

"Medical leave is no problem. However, your position with the MCRT will need to be decided once you're healthy. It may be safer for you to go back to Cyber Crimes."

"Then I'm afraid I'd be forced to resign from NCIS, Director Vance. My place is in the field not a basement."  
Tim said.

"I never said that you would be going back to Cyber Crimes, Agent McGee. Just that it may be a possibility."

"Of course, Director."

"That should be all. You'll need to leave your side arm with Agent Gibbs but you may keep your badge."

Tim walked out of the Director's office after that and dropped his gun on Gibbs' desk. Gibbs gave him an icy stare.

"I didn't resign, Boss. Medical Leave. Vance said I was to leave my firearm with you but I could keep the badge. But just so you know Boss, Vance may put me back in Cyber Crimes once I'm healthy. I told him if that was the case then I'd be resigning since my place is in the field."

Tim left the building after that. There was nothing more that needed to be said. He'd email Tony, Abby, and Ziva the time and place to the next day's dinner once he made the reservations. Maybe he'd screw with Tony's mind and see if he remembered anything from _Rock Hollow_ and tell him they were going to Alfredo's.

Tim sat with Abby at a corner table in Alfonso's waiting for Tony, Ziva, Sarah, and his parents. Abby had just arrived and was asking Tim how he was doing when Sarah came in and spotted him.

"Hey Tim. Hello Abby." she said once at the table.

"Hey Sarah." Tim said standing to hug his little sister.

"Hi Sarah! How's school been going?" Abby asked.

"It's been good. I'm really enjoying my Deviance and Crime in the Renaissance class." Sarah said launching into a long story about the class to Abby.

Tim kept his eye on the door of the restaurant. Tony and Ziva came in and were closely followed by his parents.

"Mom." he said giving the woman a hug. He turned to his father and they did a manly handshake. "Dad."

"Hello, son." said Tim's father.

"Tim, what's going on? Why the big dinner?" his mother asked.

"I'll explain in a bit. First I'd like to introduce some of my co-workers." Tim said, "Mom, Dad. These are Anthony DiNozzo, the senior field agent, Officer Ziva David our Mossad liaison, and Forensic Specialist Abigail Sciuto. Tony, Ziva, Abby these are my parents Former Lt. Commander Harold McGee and Emily McGee. I think everyone here knows Sarah."

"Very funny, Tim." Sarah said sticking her tongue out at her older brother.

After all the "it's nice to meet you"'s and "how do you do?"'s the group of seven sat down for a meal. After the waiter had taken their drink and appetizer orders Tim cleared his throat.

"Mom, Dad, Sarah as you all know I've asked you here for a very important reason. The thing is it isn't good news. I went to the hospital two days ago at the advice of our Medical Examiner, Doctor Mallard, I usually call him Ducky." Tim paused here for a moment and Abby grabbed his hand under the table. "The doctors diagnosed me with leukemia."

"What are you going to do?" Emily McGee asked. Tim could see the unshed tears in his mother eyes.

"I'm on medical leave form work. I start Chemo next Tuesday." he explained.

"What do you need us to do?" his dad asked.

"I'd like it if you can be here. The team is going to be with me during the chemo as much as we can but I know it would be nice to have all three of you there too."

Their appetizers arrived then and everyone placed their dinner orders. They stayed off the subject of Tim's illness during the appetizers and dinner. Instead Tim's mother and father asked Tony, Ziva, and Abby questions about themselves and NCIS. However, Tim did notice the looks his mother would send him everyone once and a while like she was afraid that Tim would just keel over right there. It was after dinner once everyone was having coffee or tea and Tony was eating dessert that the talk turned back to Tim.

"I think your mother and I can be here for you during this time. It will take us some time to get set up but once we're settled here we'll be around as much as we can during your Chemo." Harold said.

"That's perfect!" Abby exclaimed, "Gibbs left me in charge of the schedule of who will accompany Tim to and from the chemo and who will take care of him afterwards and in case of an emergency such as a case or something to that effect who should be called in."

Emily and Harold just raised their eyebrows at the young goth.

"Timmy forgot to mention that. He said that we'd be with him and we meant it. We didn't mean just stopping by to check on him every once and a blue moon. We're each going to take care of Tim. He's one of us and we never forget one of our own." she explained.

"Semper Fi." Ziva whispered.

"Exactly." Tony said, "Besides McGoo has become a decent agent. I'd hate to have to train another new Probie to take his place."

"Semper Fi?" Sarah asked.

"It means always faithful. It's the motto of the Marine Corps. I guess we consider it to be our motto unofficially too since Gibbs was a Marine." Tim explained.

It was only a little while later that the dinner party headed their separate ways. Tim drove Sarah back to Waverly since she'd taken a taxi earlier. Emily and Harold headed back to their hotel, while Tony, Ziva, and Abby headed to their own apartments.

* * *

It was 10 when the knock came on the door of the hotel room. Harold and Emily McGee had just begun getting ready for bed when it happened. Harold opened the door to find a man with icy blue eyes and silver grey hair behind the door.

"May I help you?" he asked.

"Lt. Commander Harold McGee?" the man asked.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"I'm Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

Harold knew instantly that this was Tim's boss and opened the door wider to let him into the room. Emily gave Gibbs a strange glance but after he introduced himself she smiled and said that it was nice to finally meet the real man since Tim always had wonderful things to say about him.

"Tim's a good agent. I wouldn't trade him for twelve Tony's." Gibbs said, "But that's not the reason I'm here. I know Tim told you about his leukemia tonight and I wanted to come here and tell you that if you need anything during this time to just give me a call."

He handed Harold his card.

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs. We truly appreciate everything you've done for our son the past 6 years. I've never seen him this happy." Harold said.

* * *

Tim knew there was a schedule for his Chemo that everyone (both his biological and NCIS families) followed to a "T". Each person had their own way of keeping Tim's mind off the drugs going through him and then getting him through everything at home afterwards. Everyone came for the first few minutes on the first day to meet his oncologist.

"Hello Tim. I see you've brought half of D.C. with you." Dr. Martini said, "May I inquire as to who they all are?"

"Of course Dr. Martini." Tim said and pointed to each person as he spoke. "That my father Former Lt. Commander Harold McGee, and next to him is my mother Emily and my younger sister Sarah. Next to Sarah are most of my coworkers: Abby, Tony, Ziva, and my boss LJ Gibbs. Everyone, this is my doctor."

"Dr. Alyssa Martini. It's wonderful to meet you all and to know that Tim has a large support base." I assume I'll be seeing all of you during Tim's chemo?"

Everyone nodded their assent and after Tim was hooked up to a couple IV's with the drugs everyone except for Abby made their see you later's to Tim.

Tim soon discovered that each person had their own way of trying to keep his mind off the drugs during the Chemo and then while he was home feeling ill. Tim was glad that they barely ever left him alone at his apartment since he wasn't quite sure how he would handle having to do everything on his own.

Abby's preferred method was to have him dictate the currently unnamed title of the third book in the LJ Tibbs series. Though sometimes she would tell him stories of Tony before he came to NCIS and about herself. Sarah also liked to take dictation but would also tell him about her classes and the novel she was currently drafting.

Tony, being Tony, liked to watch movies with Tim. Tony only allowed him to watch comedies though since laughter is the best medicine. Tony also would tell him about cases and the stupid things that suspects did to try and escape capture. He also would tell him all the scuttlebutt from the base from how Vance had been sleeping on his couch for a few days to that Palmer was reading the _Harry Potter_ series.

Like any mother trying to calm her son, Emily McGee usually sang to Tim to keep his mind clear. She sang his old lullabies and other songs that he had liked as a child. She would also play his jazz records for him at home. His father would tell him stories from his Navy days. Tim had loved them as a child and now that he understood more about the Navy he enjoyed them even more.

Ziva, the ever practical one, took this time to teach Tim how to kill with office supplies and incapacitate attacker with pressure points. She would show him how to bend something or move something in midair while he was undergoing his chemo and then would show him the pressure points by practicing on Tony (though she never used any of the lethal ones).

And finally there was Gibbs. Usually Gibb's mere presence was enough to keep Tim preoccupied--after all he was the boss. Gibbs would sit there and read one of his magazines...usually Sniper's Monthly or Boat Building Monthly. Both of which would make Tim chuckle since it reminded him of their trip to OPSEC in LA almost two years prior.

One day Tim just couldn't stand the silence between him and Gibbs anymore...and he was burning to ask just one question.

"Boss, I have to know. How _do_ you get the boat out of the basement?"

"It's simple McGee..." Gibbs said before continuing his explanation.

Six months after Tim had been diagnosed with leukemia and he'd gone through all his chemotherapy found Tim back in a hospital bed. They'd just taken more bone marrow for another biopsy to see if he was cancer free. He hoped that all the chemo had worked so that he could get back to work soon. He knew he'd have to stay out of the field but he could at least sit at his desk and do all of the computer stuff--like he usually did anyways. It was at this point in Tim's thoughts that Dr. Martini entered.

"So, can I go back to work?" he asked like an impatient child.

"I'm afraid not, Tim. The cancer is still there. We need to discuss your options." she said.

Alyssa explained what Tim could do. They decided that the best option was for him to have a Bone Marrow Transplant. Everyone was sad when he told them that the Chemo hadn't worked and that he needed bone marrow. While the NCIS team was ready to go and have theirs tested right then and there Dr. Martini explained that the mostly likely match was with family.

"I'll do it right now." Sarah said.

"Anything for my son."

"We'll do it." Harold said.

A day after the news that Tim's chemo hasn't worked Leroy Jethro Gibbs was waiting with Tim's family to get the results of their bone marrow tests.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Martini said, "None of you are a match. Is there anyone else-?"

"We'll do it. One of us might be a match." Gibbs said interrupting the doctor. He flipped open his cell phone. "Tony. Hospital. Bone marrow test. Now. Bring Ziva, Abby, Ducky, Palmer and Vance."

"Agent Gibbs, Like I said before we're more likely to find a match among family."

"We're part of McGee's family. Just because we're not related by blood doesn't mean we aren't like family." Gibbs said glaring at her. "We're going to get tested. Now let's go and do whatever it is you need to do before my team gets here."

It took two days for all the results to be processed and there was a match among the NCIS team. Everyone was crowded in Tim's room to tell him about the match.

"None of your family was a match, Tim. So your co-workers were tested and we found you a match."

"Who is it?" he asked looking among the people he also considered his family.

"SURPRIZE!!!!!!!" Tony yelled.

"I'm going to have some Tony in me?" Tim said faking anxiety, "Can I choose the death option instead please?"

Everyone knew he was joking but it still hit them hard. They had forgotten that Tim could die from this. He wouldn't die the next day but eventually this could kill him.

Tim sighed. After this surgery, he was never going to the hospital again he decided. He was sick of white walls, white floors, white....EVERYTHING! He didn't even want to be in the hospital right now, but the doctors wanted to keep an eye on him during the night so he was stuck in the hospital the day before his surgery. Tony was sitting with him right now since he too was spending the night in the hospital. He was reading an old back issue of GSM magazine, Tim vaguely recognized as the one that Tony and Ziva had both had when she arrived to take a place on their team.

"Did you ever find out if what she said was true, about number 57?" he asked.

"Page 57, McVirgin, page 57."

"Well, did you ever find out if it was true?"

"No."

It was moments after this at Ziva walked into the room to relieve Tony of his "Keeping McGee entertained" duty. Of course Tony didn't go far...since he was donating his marrow the doctors wanted to keep an eye on him too. They were afraid he'd eat and be unable to have the surgery.

"Hey Tony," McGee called as his fellow agent was walking out the door, "Thanks...for everything."

"You're welcome ...Tim."

The time Tim spent with Ziva was full of quiet words and jokes and Tim once again explaining that idioms do not always have to make sense. Two hours later found him with Ducky and Palmer as companions...he was wary about having Palmer around especially after that one time in chemo*. But things went smoothly and both Palmer and Ducky said they'd see him after the surgery when Vance came in. Vance was only there for half an hour mostly to tell Tim about the technical upgrades occurring at the Navy Yard...including touch screens. He spent the next few hours with his parents and Sarah. His mother was terrified and Tim was the only one who could keep her calm.

"It'll be fine, mom." he said.

"I just wish we could stay longer after your surgery."

"I've got the team. They'll be there all the time until I can be on my own."

Sarah also promised that she'd drop by Tim's apartment more often than usual. Just as his parents were leaving Gibbs came in to spend some time with Tim. Tim had gotten used to the (now comfortable) silences when Gibbs was around. They were comforting in a way that was only a product of the aura of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Tim smiled when Abby walked into the room. She flopped into the chair that Gibbs had just vacated. With a shoulder pat and a promise to see him the following day Gibbs headed home. Tim was glad Abby was the last one to visit him but felt bad because he was starting to fall asleep on her.

"It's alright, Timmy," she said, "I'll be right here for as long as I can. You go to sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, you'll be all better."


	2. Chapter 2: You don't have permission

_Chapter 2: "You don't have permission"_

NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs had just left Bethesda Naval Hospital where two of his agents were scheduled to have a bone marrow transplant the following day. The agent who had worked with him the longest, Anthony "Please-Call-Me-Tony" DiNozzo was donating some bone marrow to his youngest agent, Timothy "Yes-I-went-to-MIT-and-what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it?" McGee. Six months earlier Tim had been diagnosed with leukemia and after doing rounds upon rounds of chemo with his co-workers and family helping him they had discovered that the chemo hadn't worked and a transplant would be needed to get Tim into remission.

He was driving back to his house to work on his new boat and drink some bourbon to keep the worry about both his agents down when he spotted a familiar church on the other side of the road. There was no one coming on the other side so he made a sharp turn into the parking lot. He started at the building for a minute. He had a lot of memories form here while he was going through his second divorce. Taking a deep breath he opened the car door and stepped out. All the lights were still on inside so he knew he could go in. He walked straight to the alcove where the votive candles were set up. He put four dollars in as a donation and proceeded to light four candles. The first two were for Shannon and Kelly, the third for Jenny and the fourth and final for McGee.

_'Shannon, Kelly, Jenny, I need you all to keep McGee safe tomorrow and afterwards. He's a good agent; you know that Jen and this team needs him. We may joke about him being just the computer geek but he really is a valuable part of our team.' _Gibbs thought as he looked at the candles.

"Jethro? Is that you?" a voice asked.

Gibbs turned to see the voice of the priest, David LaFonatine.

"Father." he said.

"What are you doing here?" David asked looking Gibbs over, "You're not going through another divorce are you?"

"No, one of my agents is in the hospital."

"Was he shot?" David asked leading Gibbs over to a nearby pew.

"I almost wish he had been. That would be easier to deal with. When you deal with obvious danger every day, you can forget that you're not invincible when it comes to human illnesses. My agent has leukemia. One of my other agents is giving him a bone marrow transplant tomorrow. But there's still the chance he can die."

"I'll make sure a special prayer is said for him tomorrow during mass."

"Thank you."

"That's not all that's bothering you is it?" David asked.

"My whole team has been looking to me for reassurance that McGee will be alright. And I tell them he will be because he has to be. He's one of us. If something happens to him the team will never be the same."

"As long as you believe, Jethro, he will be fine. God works in mysterious ways for his children." David said before patting Gibbs on the shoulder.

Gibbs sat in the pew for a few more moments before heading back to his car. Once back in his car Gibbs began heading home to work on the boat. Despite feeling better after talking to David Gibbs still couldn't keep his mind off of Tim's surgery and what would happen if it didn't work. There was a good chance that McGee would die at some point if the transplant didn't work.

He could practically see the tears streaming down Abby's face at the funeral; her green eyes all puffy. He could hear the sniffles and sobs as she leaned on him for comfort. Kate's death had been hard enough on Abby; he didn't want to see her going through McGee's.

He could also see Tony's blue-green eyes glazed over, trying to keep the tears from falling, trying to be the strong, solemn agent he thought he would need to be. He knew that the jokes would diminish, movie references would fade to a minimum, and that DiNozzo just wouldn't be DiNozzo.

Ziva's face drifted into his mind next. Her dark brown eyes were cold but underneath Gibbs could tell that she was in a lot of emotional pain from McGee's death. Since "retiring" from Mossad and starting her recovery process from Saleem's camp, Ziva had made a lot of headway with showing her emotions. Gibbs was afraid that McGee's death would send her into a backwards spiral and she would become the Mossad Ziva once again.

Unbidden the thoughts of the day McGee had been promoted to the forefront of Gibbs' mind.

_'Well, I got some good news and some bad news. You've just been promoted to a full time field agent.'_

_'Really? That's incredible! What's...'_

_'You belong to _me _now!'_

Following that a memory of Tony having plague took the other memories place.

_'Tony, listen to me......Are you listening?'_

_'I'm...listening......boss'_

_'You will not die. You got that?'_

_Tony didn't respond and Gibbs head slaps him, lightly._

_'I said: You. Will. Not. Die.'_

Gibbs pulled a sharp U-turn. He knew exactly what he needed to do before Tim went into surgery.

When he pulled up to Bethesda Gibbs didn't even bother parking his car. He stepped out and headed directly for the elevators to get to Tim's room. He walked into McGee's room to find McGee asleep and Abby sleeping with her head on the bed. He wasn't surprised to see Abby there, he knew no matter what either of them said there was a special bond between them that would never let them completely give themselves to another person.

He stood there for a moment wondering if he should just whisper it in McGee's ear. Ducky had once told him that even when you were asleep you could still hear things people told you. He was just taking a step forward when McGee moved and opened his eyes.

"Boss?" he asked groggily.

"Yeah, McGee."

"Why are you here?"

"You remember what I told you when you got the promotion. That you belong to me? That still holds true. You are _mine_. And that means you need _my_ permission to die. And I haven't given it."

"Boss?"

"_You are not allowed to die, McGee._" Gibbs said

"Yes, Boss!"


	3. Chapter 3: Love is

_Chapter 3: Love is…_

Abby stared at Tim's face. It was different from the one she remembered meeting eight years prior when McGee was still at Norfolk. He'd come to have lunch (and more) with her after helping Gibbs, Kate, and Tony solve the murder of Petty Officer Drew.

_"Abigail Sciuto, I'd like to introduce you to Agent McGee. Agent McGee this is Abigail Sciuto." Tony said. _

_"Tim." he said holding his hand out._

_"Abby." she replied taking his hand and the pulling him into one of her hugs._

_Tony looked between the two of them but they'd already forgotten about his presence and were discussing Tim's time at MIT so he left without another word. A few moments later the duo headed out to lunch at Capitol Hill Tandoor & Grill**. They hit it off well and made plans to have dinner the next night. _

Those first few days of their..."relationship" were amazing. Tim was so sweet and kind. She had broken his heart just before they had investigated the possible murder of a Navy Lieutenant which had turned out to be a suicide. He was angry with her and he had every right to be so. They had "made up" over the summer and began having a purely sexual relationship. That all had changed when McGee had been officially transferred to the MCRT. They had made a bunch of rules for them to follow since she had decided that they couldn't be together and work together as per Gibbs' rules.

But despite her decision they were still very close. She had been worried when he and Gibbs' had gone off to LA: after all the last time any members of NCIS HQ had been there one of them hadn't returned.

_"Are you going somewhere?" she asked Gibbs_

_"Yeah. That's what I came down here to tell you. Los Angeles." he said_

_"Into the lionesses den?!"_

_"I'm taking McGee." he said before kissing her cheek._

_"Gibbs. It's just the last time you guys went to L.A. one of you didn't come back."_

_"I'll bring him home, Abs." he said before leaving the lab._

And Gibbs had come through with his promise. They had both come home unscathed. Her fear then though had been nothing compared to when Timmy had been trapped inside a women's prison. She had been _terrified_ that he had been hurt when the team got orders to gear up and head to Maryland Women's Prison. She knew that's where McGee was and when she had gotten the evidence from Tony and Ziva she was glad to see they were unharmed but was worried since they had no news on Tim.

There were other times though when they could just have fun like when they were discussing Gibbs fighting all different sorts of monsters. Then there were the other serious moments where she would still admit that she had feelings for McGee. Like after Jenny's death.

_"She was always such a snappy dresser, you know? Like a classy. I never told her that. Why didn't I tell her that? She would have liked that. She would've smiled. You can't wait with stuff like that because you never know what's going to happen.........I like the way you dress, Gibbs. Its masculine and spruce, and always with a jacket. See even you smiled. And Tony your business, and after hours.......it's nice. Ziva you kick butt and you look so good doing it. McGee.......oh, McGee!" she rambled on after getting Jenny's bloody clothing._

She couldn't vocalize what she wanted to say to McGee. He was perfect and almost always knew what she needed. He just was for her. There was no way to describe the kind of connection they had. She always tried not to be jealous when he was dating someone but she never really liked it.

_"Love is never having to read her her Miranda rights but she's going but she's going to do this to someone else. Throw her psycho ass in the brig. I love you, McGee that should be enough." she said to him._

_"Abby, they don't know you like we know you, okay? They're hoping that you made a mistake, but when their ballistics experts don't find any, that makes your forensics all the more damning in court. So please do not let desperate lawyers grasping at thin polystyrene tubes upset you. Please." he said._

_"I love you, McGee. Not like, '_love you_'- love you. Not that I don't love you, because I do, kinda, you know, like..., like the way I love puppies." she said. _

She wasn't sure why she'd felt the need to explain how she loves him.

"Excuse me, miss. Visiting hours are over now. You need to leave." a nurse suddenly said.

"Please can I stay? I don't want to leave him." Abby said softly.

"Of course, dear."

Abby sighed as the nurse left. She couldn't leave Timmy here all alone in a hospital bed before he had a life-saving surgery. He was too important to everyone at NCIS. Gibbs needed him to do all the computer stuff that she didn't have the time to do--like hack into the CIA. Who would help Ziva when Tony told her that she was saying yet another idiom wrong? And Tony needed someone to prank, if he tried any of the things that he did to Timmy on Ziva; she would kill Tony. And as for her she needed his help with certain things...Oh who was she kidding she just needed him! She loved having Tim in the lab with her even if he was just there dropping off evidence.

Abby looked down at her feet. Why couldn't she just admit it to herself? She....loved...Tim. She, Abigail "I'll-never-get-married" Sciuto, was in love with her Timmy McGee. She looked back up at Tim.

"I love you, Timothy McGee," she whispered, "You can't leave me. I need you."

She stood up and gave Tim a light kiss on the cheek. After she sat back down she felt her eyes start to droop. Apparently realizing that you were in love with someone and confessing it took a lot out of someone. Abby laid her head on the bed. She'd just rest her eyes for a bit until she felt more awake.


	4. Chapter 4: Little Brother

Chapter 4: Little Brother

Anthony DiNozzo hated hospitals. He had spent far too much time in one when his mother was dying of lupus when he was 12. Her death at such a young age in his life (and hers) had meant that he'd never gotten to have a little brother or sister ....which he'd never wanted in the first place. As he'd grown older he'd realized that his family was not like most families. But what his real family had lacked he'd found at NCIS. Gibbs was a _real_ father, he cared for all of his agents but if you didn't do things properly you'd get "punished" aka a head slap. Jenny was very much a mother she cared and she would listen to your troubles no matter what they were. Kate had been the goody-two shoes sister; always trying to make you do the right thing. Ziva was..well he wasn't quite sure what Ziva would be in a family. Ducky was like the crazy uncle who told the interesting--but long-winded--stories. Palmer was the third cousin once removed who you didn't spend a lot of time with and was kind of creepy. He was the older brother, everyone looked to him for advice and jokes to make them laugh in those stressful moments and high octane instances. And McGee was the younger brother. Always in awe of the older siblings, always getting pranked, and always needing something from his older siblings.

Tony had never wanted a younger sibling but now that he had McGee he wouldn't give him up for anything. It was fun to prank McGee since he'd never truly retaliate, but it was also nice when McGee had troubles and he came to Tony for advice. He was glad he could do something to help Tim get better (hopefully). The two of them they'd had a lot of adventures over the past eight years...from funny moments to more serious moments.

_"This is breaking and entering!" McGee said_

_"No, that was breaking... this is entering." Tony replied._

That was the first time the two had worked together. They'd arrived at Joshua Fox's home to find no one there and so in lieu of taking the time to get a warrant through legal, as Tim had wanted to do…Tony felt it would be more prudent to "play football" and threw a rock through the glass pane on the door.

* * *

_"McGee and I watched the sunrise together. It was very Brokeback Mountain." Tony said._

_"He had me at howdy." McGee said. __

* * *

_

"The Tommy Lee Jones speech? Every time we have a fugitive?" McGee asked.

Corporal Damon Werth…Tony loved doing the Tommy Lee Jones speech. It wasn't often that he got to use that accent. There had been another case where McGee and Ziva had avoided saying the word fugitive for two days before he finally connected all the dots.

_

* * *

_

"We can't find him! But we're not going to give up until we do!" Tony said to Gibbs

_"Or die trying!" McGee added_

_"Or die trying? You had to put that in his head!" Tony hissed._

They were trying to find the whereabouts of Kenneth Merrill. McGee had obviously not been thinking when he told the boss that they would die trying to find him. Luckily they had discovered his whereabouts—without death resulting.

_

* * *

_

"Steady Probie." Tony said.

_"Tell that to my stomach." Tim replied._

_"Steady Probie's stomach." Tony responded bending over so that his mouth was equal to McGee's stomach._

Poor Probie. Always with the motion sickness. At least they'd solved the mystery of the missing black ship's crew.

_

* * *

_

"One and a half teaspoons is not sweet, McGee. I've seen my people pour three ounces of sugar into a one ounce espresso." Tony argued putting sugar into his coffee

_"Your people being Long Islanders?" _

_"Romans. The inventors of the grain harvester, the arch, and modern plumbing."_

_"Plumbing. Every time I flush I will think of you Tony. You and your people." McGee said as Ziva walked in._

_"I'd ask you to explain that...but I really don't want to know." she said to McGee before turning to Tony, "And I definitely don't want to know what you're doing."_

_

* * *

_

"Okay McTim, you win. What are we looking at?"

_"What do you see?"_

_"It's an iceberg and we're headed right for it!"_

_"More like the 4 million dollar tip of an 8 billion dollar iceberg."_

* * *

_"Ooh, code blue." McGee said looking at his computer screen._

_"Someone's been black balled." Tony replied._

_"They gave you the red-flag." Tim said to Ziva._

_"What is blue, black, and red?" Ziva asked thoroughly confused._

_"Zebra in a blender."_

_"That's black, white, and red all over." McGee stated_

_"Newspaper."_

_"Penguin with a sunburn."_

_"Nun falling down stairs." Tony replied._

McGee was checking Ziva's application status and he and little Timmy had made references to different colors signaling something wrong which confused Ziva. He smiled as they said the usual answers to the "What's black white and red all over?" joke.

_

* * *

_

"Aren't you the couple who called about marriage counseling?" the therapist said.

_"Couple? Us? No, no we..." Tim spluttered_

_"It's all right, Timmy. Timmy--we're in a safe place. We can be ourselves here." Tony said in a soothing voice. McGee pushed himself away from Tony. "We just got back from Vermont. It's very pretty this time of year."_

_"NCIS Special Agents McGee and DiNozzo." McGee said pulling out his badge._

_"_Very _special agents."_

He had been making fun of Tim for being afraid of heights and hugging the ladder. Usually he disliked it when people did something like that therapist had but in this case it had been totally worth it for a chance to tease McGee.

_

* * *

_

"What do you want?" McGee asked.

_"When the going gets tough the tough go clubbing." Tony said._

His little Probie was all upset over shooting a Metro PD officer so Tony in a true effort to cheer him up went over to take Tim out for the night. He didn't like it when his Probie was sad and so he really was trying to make him feel better.

_

* * *

_

"McGee, the first time I shot someone, I wet my pants."

_"Really?" the younger agent asked surprised._

_"Really. If you tell anyone, I will slap you silly."_

When trying to take him clubbing didn't work Tony resorted to the truth. He really had wet himself the first time he shot someone so in that department Probie had a leg up on him. It was worth telling him to see the slight smile on his face at knowing that the great Tony DiNozzo was just as human as he was.

_

* * *

_

"Never kick a Probie when he's down."

_

* * *

_

"On it boss!"

_"I do love it when he calls me boss." Tony said to Ziva._

_"Is that why you're being nice to him?" she asked._

_"I'm not being nice. Lugging foot lockers is Probie work...Alright, I cut the Probie some slack."_

He did feel for the Probie. Hell, even he didn't want to be in the room that Gibbs had just almost died in but someone had to do the work and looking at the Probie's face Tony knew he would have to buck up and do it.

_

* * *

_

"I love you, McGee. I promise to never give you a hard time again."

_"Yeah, right."_

* * *

"_Trust your instincts, Tim, they're usually right. Take the lead on this one, all we can do is assist."_

McGee's book got us all in trouble but it was tough to see him stressing out over how the person was getting the information. All it took was a couple words from Tony and he calmed down enough to think straight and he did figure it out—with help from yours truly.

_

* * *

_

"I never thought I'd say this and actually mean it, but it's good to see you Tony."

_"I miss you too, Probie."_

Tony smiled at the thought of all the good times he and McGee had had. He really had missed Probie during his stint as an agent afloat.

One of the things he had missed most about McGee was giving him nicknames. As much as people thought that he did it to humiliate the younger agent he really used them as terms of endearment. The nicknames were merely a way of showing Tim that he did care. He never used them when it really mattered like after he had shot the Metro cop.

For Tony nicknames were really the only way he could show that he _did_ care for someone (other than Gibbs because Tony was sure that if he gave Gibbs a nickname he'd get the hardest head slap of his career). And big brothers always had nicknames for their little brothers. So in reality he really was just treating McScuttlebutt like he really was family.


	5. Chapter 5:Differences

_Chapter 5: Differences_

Despite the fact that she had not fired her gun in months Ziva David sat on her living room floor cleaning it. She couldn't stop thinking about Tim's bone marrow transplant the following day. She found it odd that she cared so much about her co-worker. When she had still been with Mossad she barely knew anything about her coworkers besides the bare essentials. Here she knew all about them and more. Of course she had already known a lot about them from the dossiers she had created for Ari but there were some things even her dossiers didn't have, like Abby's occasional prophetic dream and the time that Tony passed out on the pool table in his frat after "some epic funneling during a Buckeyes football game".***

It had been a mere two months after joining NCIS as the Mossad liaison when she had gotten keys to both McGee's and Tony's apartments. It had taken another month and a half to get Abby's key, though, since she had waited till they had put together the case that the bomb squad had accidentally blown up. When she had asked Tony about a key to Gibbs' house everyone around had begun laughing and after a moment Tony explained that Gibbs' door didn't even have a lock on it so no one needed a key to get in. She also had had the whole team over for dinner on random nights and they had spent holidays together. That was also extremely different from Mossad where inviting coworkers over meant that it was one more person who knew where you lived—this made it easy for others to kill you.

Deaths were not uncommon at Mossad…they were trained well but one wrong move could kill you. She had seen a lot of agents die whether in duty or just on the streets of Israel. When agents had died in front of her on a mission she had been trained not to react to a death since that could blow her own cover. She had seen multitudes of people die in Hamas terrorist bombings on the streets of Israel and so she had learned not to show emotions when it came to people who died at any time. It was dangerous and someone could blackmail you using those emotions.

There had been three deaths in her memory that had actually gotten reactions out of her. The first had been her sister, Tali's, the second had been Ari's, and the third and final had been Michael's. After she had shot Ari—not just on her father's orders. She wanted to believe that he hadn't done it but hearing the things he had said to Gibbs' she had known that he was dangerous to all around him and had taken him out to save Gibbs. She could remember the blank look in his eyes and the ever-widening pool of blood under his head. She sat on something over the body and began singing the _Kaddish_. She was sad that Ari was dead and that she had been the one to kill him but she was also strangely relieved that he was no longer around to hurt anyone else.

Her reaction to Michael's death had not truly been reacting to Michael's death. It was more a reaction to Tony being there, on the ground, in her apartment without anyone to help him. She knew now that she had not loved Michael but it had been nice to have someone who showed they cared for her not only when it was convenient for him.

She knew, however, her reaction to Tim's death would be different from either of those; it would be similar to her reaction to Tali's death. She had been distraught when Tali died and during her period of mourning had actually gone and killed all of the men responsible for the bombing of the small café that Tali had been at. She had volunteered for _metsada_ after that. She wouldn't have as quite a violent reaction to Tim's death as she had to Tali's but she would still have an unusual reaction for her. Tim was a good agent and a wonderful friend. Her reaction to Tim's death would be more emotionally violent—there would be no one for her to kill but she would still want to do something about his death. She felt very close to Tim since he was the first member of the team to truly accept her and not blame her for everything that Ari had done.

Tim had to make it through the surgery and that's all there was to it, Ziva said to herself as she finished cleaning the Sig before placing it onto the coffee table next to the ten other guns that had been stashed in different places in her apartment.

***that last part goes out to rekkidbraka on FFN and The DiNozzo Diaries series (specifically #3)


	6. Chapter 6: Missing Scenes and Resolution

_Chapter 6: Missing Scenes and Resolution_

"Listen, you go back to NCIS and the FBI will handle the investigation." FBI agent Tobias Fornell said to the replacement MCRT leader.

"That's fine with me. Good luck." He said looking back at the carnage of the crime scene.

Fornell sighed. Despite the fact that they could be _really annoying_ he missed Jethro and his agents. They never would have left the FBI at a crime scene involving two Navy Captains. He thought for a moment about why they weren't there…their computer expert…McGee had leukemia and was undergoing a bone marrow transplant from DiNutso today. It had been nearly five months ago that Fornell had found out the kid was sick.

*Flashback*

There was yet another case involving both NCIS MCRT and the FBI team under Fornell and since it had been sometime since he had been able to annoy Jethro he decided to show up early and sit behind his desk and for the first time ever Jethro was late. It was noon when he walked out of the elevator pushing a wheelchair with the young agent in it.

"Have you become a nursemaid now, Jethro?" he asked as DiNutso took the handles of the wheelchair and placed McGee in front of the plasma near his old desk.

Gibbs turned to look at Fornell with his icy blue stare.

"Conference room now." he said.

Once the elevator started moving Gibbs waited for a moment before flipping the emergency switch.

"You wanna say that again, Tobias?" Gibbs growled.

"Calm down Jethro, you know I didn't mean it."

"Doesn't matter. You said it. We're all working double time right now."

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

"McGee is sick. And we're all on 'nursemaid' duty."

"He has a family right? Why aren't they here taking care of him? He's not your responsibility, Jethro."

The moment the words came out of his mouth he knew it was the wrong thing to say (however this could be because Gibbs had shoved him up against the wall and was considering choking the life out of him).

"He's my agent, Tobias. That makes him my responsibility. He does have a family and they are helping to take care of him but my team is my family. I would do anything for them. Tony, Tim, Abby, and Ziva are all like children to me. And families take care of their own. That is why I'm 'playing nursemaid'." Gibbs said calming down as he explained the situation to Fornell and letting go of him.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Leukemia." Gibbs said flipping the emergency switch back.

*End Flashback*

"Agent Fornell, what should we do now?" asked a probational agent.

"Get our ME here. We have an investigation to start." He said wishing one last time that Jethro was on the case.

* * *

Tim felt the top of his head for the umpteenth time that day. He was bald…completely bald. The Chemo had started to make his hair fall out so earlier that day Abby had taken him to a barber shop to get his head shaved. He had done the buzz cut five years ago a few months after Kate had…been killed. But then he had at least peach fuzz on his head. But now? There was nothing but skin! Tony had already called him McBaldie and McHair Loss.

_Speak of the devil and ye shall receive_ Tim thought as Gibbs and Tony entered his apartment.

"How ya holding up, McRogaine?" Tony asked adjusting the hood over his head.

"I'm fine, Tony," he replied smiling at the funny (yet still offensive) nickname, "You don't need to cover your hair from me. I'm not jealous."

"We're not covering our hair because we think you'll be jealous. Though I do have very nice hair. We have a surprise for you."

_We?_ Tim thought before noticing the hood also covering Gibbs' head.

"Well, McHair Club for Men we figured that since you were losing your hair…we should lose some of ours."

They flipped the hoods back to show Tim that they had shaved parts of their heads. Tony now sported a short Mohawk with the sides of his head completely bald. Gibbs had a style Tim was very used to seeing—just not on his boss. His hair was in the age-old Marine "high and tight" cut. It looked appropriate on Gibbs. A smile grew over Tim's face…they cared enough about him to shave most of their heads after he had to get his own shaved.

"Gibbs! Tony! You look so good! You should have told me you were going to do this! I would have taken Tim at the same time you two went to get yours done! Doesn't Tim's look so good? I'm glad I took him to a barber shop instead of some chain hair dressers." Abby said coming out of the kitchen.

* * *

It had been a couple of weeks since Tim had seen Ziva so he was very glad to see that she was accompanying him to Chemo that day. She was explaining to him something about pressure points in the neck when her phone rang.

"Ziva."

"_Ziva we've got a scene. Gibbs wants you here twenty minutes ago."_

"I am with McGee right now Tony. I cannot simply leave him all alone."

"_It's taken care of Zeeevah."_

"Who is coming? If you are all in the field that means that Abby is needed in the lab so who is coming?"

"_Palmer. Ducky said that he can spare him for the scene and the beginning of the autopsy as long as one of us helps him with the body here and in the truck."_

"Alright. ETA on my replacement?"

"_Should be there any moment."_

"Alright."

Ziva hung up the phone.

"What is it?" Tim asked, already knowing the answer.

"We have a case and Gibbs needs me in the field. Palmer is on his way to stay with you for the duration of you treatment but I do not know who is going to drive you home and stay with you. I will try and see if Gibbs will let me off to do so." She explained

"Alright."

A few minutes later Jimmy showed up and Ziva took off to the address that Tony had texted her while waiting.

"Hey McGee." Palmer said.

"Why didn't Vance come?" Tim asked after greeting the poor Autopsy Gremlin

"He's in LA right now." Jimmy said looking at the names of the drugs that Tim was being given. "Did you know that the Mercaptopurine that you take can cause a loss of fertility?"

"I do now."

"And the Methotrexate Sodium will do the same thing along with the possibility of kidney toxicity. And Cyclophosphamide can give you appetite loss, absence of menstrual periods, and the possibility of blood in urine?"

"Palmer-"

"And L-asparaginase can cause persistent upper abdominal pain and the need to urinate frequently. Vincristine can cause constipation, numbness or tingling in fingers and toes, and loss of vision. Prednisone has some really funny but rare side effects. You can feel confusion, excitement, have hallucinations, and mistaken feelings of being self-important or being mistreated. Plus it can cause reddish purple lines on the arms, groin, face—"

"Palmer! Shut up…please…you're making me more nauseous than the drugs do!" McGee interrupted.

"Sorry…" Palmer whispered going quiet for a while.

"Speaking of nausea…Pepto-Bismol was invented in 1901 as a response to cholera infantum. The man who invented to took it to the Norwich Pharmacal Company. They began selling it and gave it the name Pepto-Bismol in 1919. The reason that the product is pink is because-" Jimmy said right as Gibbs walked through the door.

"Boss!" Tim exclaimed elated that he no longer had to spend time with Palmer. It wasn't that he didn't like Palmer…it was just that he was starting to get like a really creepy version of Ducky.

Once he was settled into the car and Gibbs was driving Tim spoke again.

"Boss, never let Palmer come to Chemo again…I'd rather go through it alone than have him telling me side effects of the drugs and about the history of Pepto-Bismol."

* * *

After the disaster that was Jimmy going to Chemo with Tim the agents got together at lunch to discuss what should be done if something like that ever happened again.

"What should we do? Vance keeps going to LA and we're going to have cases to solve. And we don't want Tim's parents to think that we're letting him down after we promised them we would help to take care of Tim." Abby said.

"I'm sure they would understand if we explained that we are still working."Ziva replied.

"THAT'S IT! We're still working!" Abby shouted going around the lab hugging everyone and screaming "That's it!"

"Abs, calm down. What are you talking about?" Tony asked around his slice of pizza.

"We're _working!_ Let's go on vacation!" she exclaimed.

"Abby, I don't think that going away is going to help us take care of McGee. If we're not around-" Ziva started.

"I think Abby Normal over here is trying to say that we should use our vacation time up. None of us ever take vacations. We probably have more than enough. I know I have some I've never used."

"Some what you've never used, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked walking.

"Vacation time, Boss!"

"We're going to go on vacation so we don't have a repeat of yesterday's Jimmy at Chemo episode." Abby said.

"Well, yeah, I've already put the requests in." Gibbs said.

They showed up at Tim's apartment later to tell him the good news. He kept protesting that they should continue working but it was obvious to everyone that he was glad that there would be no more chance for Jimmy to end up at Chemo again.

* * *

"So we're getting the screens like they have in LA?" Tim asked excitedly.

"Yes, agent McGee. And I have one more bit of information for you."

"What is it?"

"There is still an opening on the Major Case Response Team…and as far as I know it will be open until the current member of the team is well enough to retake his position. But, you didn't hear this from me."

"Thank you, Director. Of course not, Director."

* * *

1 Week Post surgery…

Tim had been in the hospital for a week following his surgery and he was finally being released since there had been no complications. Right now he was waiting for Gibbs to finish signing all the papers so that he could drive Tim to his apartment where Abby was waiting for him. She would be staying with him until he felt like he could handle taking care of himself.

Abby had been around lot lately and when he got home and they were alone he was planning on asking why. Gibbs walked back in and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair Tim had been waiting in. Once they were in the elevator Tim tipped his head back to look at his boss.

"How much longer do I need to be in this thing?" he asked gesturing at the wheelchair.

"They say you should use it when you leave the house but walking around your apartment should be fine, as long as you can talk Abs into it." Gibbs said.

Tim nodded and went back to thinking about Abby. She really had been around a lot since his surgery. Before Tim knew it they were at his apartment. Abby opened the door form the inside and Gibbs wheeled him in…to a Welcome Home/Feel Better party. Everyone who had been with him was standing in the cramped space of his apartment. It felt like days before everyone except for Abby left but it was really only a few hours. Once she had cleaned up they were sitting on the couch together when Tim decided to broach the subject of why she had been around a lot.

"Abs, not to sound like I'm complaining or anything, but you've been around a lot lately and I'm just wondering why?" he asked.

"What do you mean, Timmy?"

"Ever since my surgery, you've been acting different—not in a bad way though, just different. You practically bit Ziva's head off when she offered to stay here with me. You know she lives only five minutes away while you live further. Doing that…it's not like you. I just want to make sure that everything is alright with you."

"Everything is fine, McGee. I just…I want to take care of you."

"But treating Ziva the way you did? You haven't done that in a long time Abby. You love spending time with Ziva. You two are such good friends. Why did you react that way when Ziva offered to stay here and take care of me?"

"They need her in the field again! Gary is a great forensic specialist. They can go a little while longer without me. Or maybe because she might not know what you need. I know you better than anyone. And you being sick…it scared me. You face physical danger everyday with your job and I can handle that. You can get shot and almost die from a gunshot wound but the doctors can also take it out and there's the chance that you will live. But with this, if this surgery didn't work…there's almost nothing else you can do and you'll die from some malignant cells in your body. Your own body is trying to kill you, McGee! I just need to know that you're alright."

"Abs, I'm going to be fine. There's no need to be worried."

"I'll always worry about you. You're my Timmy, and…and…I love you, McGee." She said, "That's why I didn't want Ziva here and why I've been around so much. I don't want to lose you and I was terrified that something would go wrong with the surgery—and don't say it couldn't happen cause it could!—and now I'm still terrified that it didn't work and you'll die on me and I can't handle you dying, Tim." Abby rambled standing up and pacing in front of the couch.

"Abby, calm down. Even if the surgery didn't take it will be a while before this can kill me. Gibbs won't let it. I need his permission to die and I don't have it…Wait, did you say that…you love me?" he asked.

"Yes. I love you, Timothy McGee. I can't stop myself from admitting it anymore."

"Abs, if I could pick you up and spin you around right now, I would. I will settle for just kissing you though. Do you know how long I've wanted to hear you say that?"

Tim stood up and pulled Abby into an embrace before kissing her.

"I love you too, Abby." He whispered.

1 month post surgery…

"You're all clear to do desk work again, Tim." Dr. Martini said looking over his charts, "You can't go into the field quite yet, lets wait another couple of months before you do that but otherwise everything looks good."

Tim didn't even care that he couldn't go back into the field just yet. He was just glad to be able to go back to work. It felt good to walk through the elevator doors and sit behind his desk again. Plus with the addition of the new touch screens it was easier than ever for Tim to get something up onto the plasma and send information to Abby. It was also nice to be back working in Abby's lab again. He had forgotten how much work they could accomplish together.

It was also nice to see all of his coworkers again. Since he had gotten out of the hospital and they had gone back to work he hadn't seen much of Tony, Ziva, or Gibbs. They had stopped by in between cases and come over for dinner a few times but he hadn't spent nearly as much time with them since having Chemo.

It was even nice to see Palmer again when he went to see him and Ducky down in autopsy. Ducky made tea and they sat for a while and talked about everything that had gone on since they had last spoken.

He felt useful to be searching through financial records and putting out BOLO's and connecting victims and suspects.

Te two months before his next test passed quickly and before he knew it he was back in the doctor's office being cleared for strenuous activity. Of course it wasn't quite that simple for Tim to just get back into field work. He had to retake his firearms proficiency test (which he passed quite handily) and go through a psych eval (which he passed with flying colors). And then for two weeks there were no cases to which they needed to respond (Tim felt that this was to spite him). Finally they got a case and he was thrilled to be back out at a scene, taking pictures, bagging evidence, and being in the truck. He got to chase suspects and coordinate with the team as they cleared rooms in a house.

Once again the time seemed to fly by and suddenly it had been six months since the surgery and Tim found himself once again in the doctor's office. After getting the results of the biopsy Tim headed back to the Navy Yard to let everyone know his fate. He called his parents on the way to let them know what he had learned. When he arrived at the bullpen everyone was standing around waiting for him.

"So????" Abby exclaimed upon seeing him.

"I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is I need to keep going to the oncologist's office." Tim said seeing all the faces around him fall, "But the good news is…I'm in remission!"

The faces around him lit up in smiles and even though Abby hit him for it, teasing his family like that had been totally worth it.

"If you are in remission, then why do you need to continue to go to the doctor's office?" Ziva asked.

"She wants me to come in every 6 months for the next two years so that she can make sure I stay in remission." Tim explained while being hugged by his family.

The smile on his face grew huge…it was nice to know that everyone around him right now had his back…no matter what the problem.

Fin


End file.
